JABARIN WINS 3RD ISRAELI CHAMPIONSHIP: CHUN POONG JHO PAYS SURPRISE VISIT: Ali Jabarin 5d successfully defended his Israeli championship title last weekend in Tel Aviv, scoring six wins to win the title for the third straight year. Daniel Reiter 4d took second and an international participant from China, Jianping Wang 5d, won third place. A highlight of the event was a visit by Chun Poong Jho 8P of Korea, the first time a professional has attended. The surprise visit was arranged by Shavit Fragman, who met Chun when his son Amir Fragman represented Israel in the recent Korean Prime Minister Cup, where he took 24th place – the best Israeli record in this tournament – and was awarded a special prize as the most popular player at the KPMC. “Chun sensei reviewed games, played simul games and made the event unique and special to all,” Shavit Fragman reports. Click here for reports and photos.

BALOGH WINS VIENNA OPEN: Pal Balogh 6d (Hungary) won the Japanese Ambassador’s Cup — aka the Pandanet Vienna Open — on October 31 & November 1. Balogh won on SOS, nudging out Hwang In-seong 7d (Berlin) by one point. The Vienna Open was held in the Museum of Ethnology in conjunction with the museum’s Japan for All Seasons exhibit celebrating 140 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Austria and is one of the highlights of the long teaching stay of Aoki Shinichi 9P. The tourney had a very strong line-up; 40 of the 136 players were dan-level players. Karin Valisova 8k (Slovakia), Ferdinand Glatzl (Austria) and Jaroslav Babek (Czech, both 10k) were the only five-game winners. Click here for full results. - Peter Dijkema

8TH ’09 TITLE FOR MACFADYEN: Matthew MacFadyen 6d of Leamington won his eighth title of the year in Milton Keynes — where 35 took part – on October 31. A week earlier he had won the 40th Wessex, topping a field of 43. In both events, Louise Bremner 1k of the Isle of Man won all three games. Earlier last month, MacFaden won in Shrewsbury – his first win there in 12 years – where his wife Kirsten Healey 2k also won all three. The British news site contains links to the tables and to some pictures of a London team tourney. - Peter Dijkema

BRITISH LEAGUE UP: The Cornish Rogues, Durham Ducklings, Oka-Shima Hotaru and 21 other teams are set to play in the inaugural online British league for teams of three, which started on October 28 with 4 divisions of 6 teams each. The Rogues defeated King Edward VI Aston 2-1 in the first game of League two on October 31.Click here to see all 24 teams. The purpose of the league is to encourage interaction between players in different areas of the country and to encourage online play among members of the British Go Association. - Peter Dijkema

CHOI YOUNG SIK WINS AMBASSADOR’S CUP IN BERLIN: Choi Young Sik 3d won the 4th Japanese Ambassador’s Cup in Berlin, October 24-25, his 4-1 score beating Johannes Ebenaus 5d and Alexander Kurz 3d (both of Berlin) on SOS. Of 60 participants no one won all 5. Click here for results.- Peter Dijkema, based on reports by Tobias Berben on dgob.de

LUETHKE SWEEPS IN KUELUNGSBORN: On the same weekend, organiser Hans-Eckhart Luethke 1k from Schwerin swept his “Go, Urlaub, Ostsee” (‘Go, holiday, Baltic sea’) tourney in Kuelungsborn. With four wins each, Markus Roelz 3d and Volkmar Liebscher 6k (both from Greifswald) also made the podium. Click here for results.- Peter Dijkema, based on reports by Tobias Berben on dgob.de

EUROPEANS DISAPPOINT AT KPMC: “No European made the top-ten of the Korean PM Cup,” wrote Herman Hiddema in a Dutch news-mail. “Dmytro Bogackyj 6d of Ukraine was best at 11th place, “ losing to China and Hongkong. Also scoring 5-2 were Leon Matoh 4d of Slovenia, who lost to Korea and Canada, Dusan Mitic 5d of Serbia lost to the U.S. and New Zealand and young Jerome Salignon 5d of France lost to Holland and Germany. Dutch Champ Merlijn Kuin 6d headed the 4-pointers, ahead of Christian Pop 7d of Romania and the rest of the Europeans. Click here for complete results and links to pictures and games. - Peter Dijkema